WHERE SELDOM IS HEARD AN ENCOURAGING WORD -- Devotional for April 14, from "Good Seeds"

Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a word of encouragement does wonders! (Proverbs 12:25)

Did I get that right? Is that how the song goes? No, but that’s how life goes: our skies are all cloudy all day, due largely to the words of discouragement that flow so freely among the sons of men. “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,” is how it’s supposed to be, but “Where does that happen?” someone asks. “In your dreams!” comes the caustic reply, for in the real world discouragement abounds. It’s one thing when circumstances beyond our control come in and do a number on our sense of well-being, but quite another when people claiming to be our friends show up and pipe up with their dismal tones and doubtful words. Someone said, “I can go all week – and on into the next – fueled by one heartfelt, well-defined word of encouragement!” Yes, it’s true: We live by encouragement – and we die without it…slowly, quietly, miserably! But let us define our terms. Social rules tell us to speak kindly to everyone, and of course that’s a good thing. “If you’re not kind, you’re the wrong kind,” goes the old maxim. But we should not indiscriminately pass around meaningless kudos and casual compliments to everyone we meet. (Maybe we’re just trying to get something for ourselves in return). Kindness is unconditional, but praise must be earned. Doling out thoughtless and empty tribute goes by another name: flattery (the dark cousin of true praise). After making this distinction, we can begin to look for genuine and positive qualities and accomplishments in others. But these must be things they’ve had a part in, not things they were merely born with. Praise is not earned (and therefore should not be given) to someone who has merely been endowed with beautiful hair, a shapely body, a quick mind, an amazing talent, or a handsome face. We praise God because He is ultimately worthy, in every sense of the word. But we praise our fellow man, too, for the qualities and accomplishments we see that have come through diligence and discipline and patience and perseverance. Now another distinction is in order. Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? – Only God is good.” (Matthew 19:17). Of course He was talking about ultimate, perfect goodness. For anyone less than deity, it is a relative term. That being clearly understood, our job is laid out before us: to be like Christ, in “going about doing good,” and that would include speaking good things to and about everyone we meet, all the time. Who knows what lives we will save – and turn toward our Savior, by our heartfelt, well-defined, encouraging words?